Eve Ensler [V-Day founder] and Congolese Activist Christine Schuler Deschryver [director of V-Day Congo] discuss with Amy Goodman, the opening of the City of Joy in Bukavu which will be run by survivors of rape in the eastern Congo. The…

The DRC parliament is presently debating proposed in the process of discussing legislation which will criminalise homosexuality. There are a number of major difference between the DRC Bill and legislation proposed in for example, Nigeria and Uganda which have proposed…

We thought collecting black gold would make us truly free You do not blame a woman whose belly has been empty for fifty years If she scoops the sand onto which the gari has spilled Hoping to sift through later…

Today is the anniversary of the death of Kimpa Vita who together with her baby (Kembo Dianzenza va Kintete) and her boyfriend, were burned to death on July 2nd 1706 by the Catholic church. I only just found out about Kimpa…

Amanda Mutamba Muhunde’s poem is dedicated to raising awareness of survivors of rape in conflict zones in parts of Africa and breaking the silence. Amanda pulls no punches in raising your conscious a notch or two as she lyrically details…

Most of us probably havent even heard of cassiterite – the mineral used in electronics especially laptops. There was a time when laptops used to be hugely expensive. Now you can pick up one for a couple of hundred pounds. …

Friends of Congo provide some context into complex situation between the Congo and Rwanda and the arrest of Laurent Nkunda. Is Laurent Nkunda’s arrest a positive development? We have reasons to doubt that Laurent Nkunda has been arrested. Rwandan Maj….

For many of us the hourly news reports showing the horrific slaughter and devastation of the Israeli attack on Gaza is still very much fresh in our minds. Daily coverage on TV, radio and news media with endless analysis, pundits…

Jacques Depelchin, peace activist and Executive Director of the Ota Benga Alliance For Peace, Healing and Dignity based in the DRC, has written a poem “From Africa to Haiti to Gaza: Fidelity to humanity”. The poem makes the connection between…

I read this story two weeks – an horrific account of the most hideous rapes by women survivors in the DRC. It’s a rewind of what took place in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Congo rape testimonies “They forced my son…

The present conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) highlights the role of multinational and Western mining interests in helping to fuel conflict and inflict human rights violations in other African countries, including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Equatorial…

“Half-baked software” or not Ushahidi makes a timely deployment to map the conflict in the DRC The mobile number to send SMS reports to is +243992592111. For more on the “fight for DRC resources” see this piece by Mandisi Majavu…

Today’s BBC reports rapes and killings by rebels and DRC forces as 250,000 people are displaced hiding in the bush or simply trekking along roads to nowhere. One only has to listen to stories by asylum seekers and refugees in…

Two important events from the DRC – The one month campaign against sexual violence in the DRC took place between March 17-April 17th and coincided with a new law to ending the crimininalisation of children by accusing them of witchcraft….